The cake saves the day
by TardisStallion
Summary: Luke learns how to cook. Sarah Jane thinks about the Doctor. Nothing too sappy or slash or all that crap. Just a story.


The cake saves the day

The cake saves the day.

Luke Smith sat on the living room floor, finishing his science report on molecular structure while his mother Sarah Jane Smith sat on the couch just starting her electricity bill.

Luke glanced at the old grandfather clock just visible from the hallway. It read midnight.

He sighed and closed his book and stood up to stretch.

Sarah Jane looked up at her son as he stretched and closed her notebook where she had been writing notes and trying to figure out the sum of her bill.

"You ready for bed, Luke?" She said as stood and stretched herself. He nodded and yawned.

She smiled as she patted him on the shoulder and gave him a gentle push towards the stairs.

"Go get some sleep. You can finish that report later. It's not due till Wednesday."

"Alright, mum." He said and headed to his room as she picked up his books and his pencil and set them on the table.

She put the kettle on and was about to sit down with a magazine when Luke's voice startled her.

"Mum, how do you do it?"

Sarah Jane turned to face him. "What?"

"Well, how do you manage to cook such good food on such a short notice and/or in such short timing?" He asked as he came into the room.

"What do you mean, Luke?" She said as she took the kettle and poured water into two mugs.

"Well, you always cook good food all the time and I was just wondering how you do it? Is it a female thing or can males do it too?"

"Well, Luke, anybody can cook. You just have know about food, for on thing, and you have to have all the ingredients that you will need to make the food."

She took two scoops of sugar and poured some cream into the mugs and brought them over to the table and set one of them in front of Luke.

"Why do you ask?" She said as she took a sip of her tea.

Luke sighed as he took his tea spooned and stirred his tea a little, watching the brown liquid swirl around the gold colored spoon.

"Maria's birthday is tomorrow and I want to make something special for her like make a cake or something. And also because cooking looks like fun."

Sarah Jane set her mug down and smiled. "Well, tomorrow I will help you make something for Maria. Would you like that?"

Luke nodded eagerly.

"Alright then," Said Sarah Jane as she stood. "Get yourself to bed and we'll start first thing in the morning.

The next morning, Luke woke his mum up early.

"Luke, it's 6:00 in the morning!" Was the first thing that came out of her lips.

Strangely, he reminded her of someone she used to travel with.

"The sooner I learn how to cook, the sooner I can make something for Maria's birthday." He said as he handed Sarah Jane her robe and left the room so she could dress.

A half an hour later, Luke and Sarah Jane were sitting at the kitchen table looking at cookbooks over a mug of tea.

"This looks good." Said Luke pointing to a recipe in the cake and cookie cookbook.

Sarah Jane saw that it was a recipe for Desperately Delicious Chocolate Cake.

"That was one of my favorite recipes." She said, taking the book from Luke and studying the recipe. She sighed remembered how she and someone else she knew used to cook with this cookbook "We used to call it the 'Double 'D' Cake'" She said smiling as she started to remember all the good times she had making that cake and remembered how one time it went wrong and the kitchen where the cooking took place was covered in chocolate and she smelt like the sticky stuff for weeks, or was it decades? She could never really tell with him. But it was said that the rich, creamy, desperate smell that gave the recipe it's name reached to every corner of every galaxy. She doubted that thought.

Luke watched his mum float away into her dreams about that recipe. Did cooking really matter to her?

"Mum?" He hated to interrupt, but he wanted make the cake too.

Sarah Jane was brought back to and she turned to Luke and chuckled softly.

"Sorry. Got a bit carried away there." She said she looked down at the book.

"Okay we'll need…"

Another half hour later the two were laughing as Sarah Jane tried to fish an eggshell out of her batter. Luke had a smear of flour on his face and he turned the mixer on to medium.

Sarah Jane stuck her finger into the batter and tasted it. "Mmm!" She said dreamily as she sucked on her finger to get the last of the batter off. Luke took the spoon tried some of it himself. Now he could understand why they called it 'Desperately Delicious'.

Sarah Jane went to the cupboard and took the chocolate icing down and took a box of orange sprinkles down.

She tossed them to Luke and he opened them.

After about an hour of waiting for the cake to bake, Luke pulled it out of the oven just as there was a knock on the door and Alan's voice could be heard from the hall.

"Hello, Anybody home?" He called as he came into the kitchen.

He took a few sniffs and sighed, "Whoa, what's that smell?" He asked.

Sarah Jane and Luke looked at each other and smiled. "We have a surprise for Maria." Said Sarah Jane.

Alan grinned and held out a card for her to sign. While she was signing Alan took another whiff and grinned even wider. "Ohh! That smells so good. Now I know she's going to love it, whatever it is." He left after Luke signed his name after asking many questions as to why he had to write his name.

"Now you ice the cake and I put the sprinkles on it okay, Luke?" Said Sarah Jane as he took a knife and scooped out some of the chocolate spread.

Alan walked back into his home, whistling a little tuned and looking around as if he had done something wrong.

"Dad?" Said Maria as she saw her father walk into the room.

"Yeees?" came the drawn out answer from the hall. It clearly meant he was up to something.

"What were you doing over a Sarah Jane's house?" She as she walked into the living room and her face fell a look of curiosity to shock as what her father had brought into the house.

It was a skateboard. Brand new obviously.

"Huh?" She asked. She dearly hoped that wasn't for her.

Alan looked up from inspecting the skateboard and saw her shocked face. He let out a laugh.

"Sorry, love, this mine. This is for you." He indicated to a small box wrapped in baby blue tissue that he pulled out of his pocket along with a small card.

"Happy 2nd birthday." He joked handing her the box, which she grabbed and began tearing the tissue.

She opened the box to find a sterling silver charm bracelet with three sterling silver charms on it. One was of a little birthday cake, another was of a little dog, still another was a little book, and the last one was a little heart with her first initial on it.

She took the card and opened it:

_Dear Maria,_

_Happy 14__th__ birthday to you!_

_The charm of the birthday cake is from me, the little dog is from your father, the book id Clyde and the heart is from Luke._

_Hope you like it. We've got some more gifts to bring over._

_Sarah Jane Smith_

_Luke Smith_

_Alan Jackson_

_K9_

_Mr. Smith (Who made the charms)_

Clyde

Maria looked at her dad, who wiggled his eyebrows at her with a grin on his face.

Meanwhile, Luke and Sarah Jane had just finished decorating their work of art and were admiring it with satisfaction.

"Wait!" Cried Luke as Sarah Jane started to pick up the cake to take it to Maria's.

He ran upstairs and came back down a few minutes later with something in his hand.

He held up an emerald pendant shaped like a flower with a dangling cluster of green beads beneath it on a green ribbon as he came back into the room.

He pressed the pendant onto the cake and laid out the ribbon to make look like it was sort of dropped onto the cake.

Sarah Jane laughed as she saw Luke deep in thought as he admired his handy work.

"That's one way to do it." She smiled and put her arm around his shoulders and gazed at the cake with pride.

There was a knock at the door and Maria went to answer it.

On the doorstep stood a grinning Luke, Sarah Jane, and Clyde.

Luke was holding a medium sized box and he handed it to her.

"Happy birthday." He said as they came inside.

They found that Maria's mother was already there and that Maria had already started opening her presents.

Chrissie crossed her arms as Sarah Jane walked into the room and screwed her lips to one side as Alan came in and game Sarah Jane a hug and patted Luke on the back.

Sarah Jane nodded politely to Chrissie before taking a seat in the armchair next to the TV.

Sarah Jane handed Maria a small package and watched with a grin on her face as the birthday girl tore open the package and found a black leather bound book. She opened it to find it blank, but realized it was a journal and hugged Sarah Jane and thanked her for the gift.

She opened Clyde's gift and found a pack of her favorite CD's. She thanked him as well and set them down next to the pink T-shirt that her mother had given her.

She turned to Luke's gift that she had set on the couch when he'd handed it to her as he came in the door.

She opened it to find to her surprise, a chocolate cake. Still warm.

Right in the middle of the cake was a pendant with her birthstone in it on a green ribbon. She picked up the pendant and tried not to retch at the smell that lingered on it.

She picked up the card that came with the box and read that it was from Sarah Jane and Luke.

Sarah Jane and Luke must have worked so hard make that cake that she didn't have the heart to tell them she didn't like cake. Chocolate especially.

She bit her lip, gauging what she would say. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't want to hurt their feelings either.

But it was as if Luke had sensed she didn't like when he spoke.

"You don't like it?" He asked. He looked at Sarah Jane, who glanced back at him.

Chrissie smirked. At least she knew her daughter didn't like chocolate.

"Yes it's great." Said Maria, trying her best not to make a scene. "Tell you what," Stood up and took as many gifts as could carry in her arms and started to head to the stairs where her room was. "I'll take these things upstairs and I'll be back in a minute."

When she arrived to the bottom of the stairs, she let out a huge breath she didn't even know she had been holding.

"You don't like it, do you?"

Maria turned around so fast that she dropped half of her load onto the floor.

Luke had followed out of the living room.

He bent down and picked up the gifts and set them back in her arms.

"If I had known that you didn't like cake, I would have made it for you, Maria. Sorry I had to embarrass you like that. I'm such an idiot. I should have asked." He said, looking at his shoes.

Maria set her stuff down and sat down on the stairs. "No, no, it's not your fault. You wanted to keep it a surprise. I just don't like chocolate. It's nothing personal."

Luke sat down next to her. "Well, do you like the necklace?"

Maria nodded. "Yes! Thanks, Luke, it actually helps keep it sweet so that not everything you gave has to do with chocolate. But how did you know that was my birthstone?"

Luke shrugged. "Your dad told me. What exactly is the point of…"

Maria held up her hand as she always did when there was something she didn't want to or couldn't explain to him. "You know, Luke, some things are better left unanswered."

Luke opened his mouth to reply, but a crash and a scream from Chrissie interrupted him and they both scrambled to their feet and darted to the living room.

The occupants were standing in a corner behind Sarah Jane, who was pointing her Sonic Lipstick towards the window.

There was a smallish hole neatly cut into the glass and the missing piece of glass sat unharmed on the little end table next to couch, close to the window. A broken vase lay beneath the table. Obviously whatever had intruded was very clumsy.

And on the table sat the weirdest looking creature (no doubt an alien) they had seen yet.

It looked like some kind of bird or lizard, but was too big such a thing; the only thing that resembled a squirrel was its tail. But the tail was made of little tiny feathers. It looked like a peacock.

The rest of its body and head were like that of a crocodile except for long fangs.

Sarah Jane called for Luke and Maria to come and stand by her, but the alien had crossed the room and hopped onto the couch with graceful movements. Sarah Jane's Sonic Lipstick followed its every move.

The creature looked at all the frightened faces around him and let out a little squeak as he inspected the box that Maria had left in the couch that still had the cake in it.

The creature gently nudged the box's lid opened a few inches. Just enough to get whiff of what was inside.

He let out a trilling call. And looked about to dig in when he seemed to remember his manners and looked at Luke and Maria, who were the closest to him and weren't pointing something at him.

"How do we know it won't hurt us?" Asked Clyde. Sarah Jane glanced at him.

"We don't." She said, opening her watch scanner.

The steady beeping convinced everyone to at least stand at ease while Sarah Jane inspected the alien.

Chrissie held up a book at the read in case it moved to her ex-husband or her daughter.

Alan waked slowly around the back of the couch, his eye on the alien.

Luke and Maria came slowly into the room, both watching it very closely.

Clyde stayed where he was.

"Well, it says here the alien here is called Ofrodite. It is a peaceful species and it is harmless. Turns invisible when threatened. And eats sugar to live." Said Sarah Jane as she closed her watch.

"So he wants the cake because it has sugar in it?" Asked Alan. "Has it come to earth before?"

"No." Said Sarah Jane, biting her lip. "Ofrodites come from millions of galaxies away."

"Then why is it here? Has is been here all along?" Said Maria as she sat down next to the Ofrodite.

"Nope. It came for the cake. Just for the cake."

"What?" Said Luke, looking at the Ofrodite and the cake. The Ofrodite was waiting patiently for someone to give him the signal to help himself.

"Luke, remember when I told that when I make that cake, every galaxy could smell it?"

"Really?"

"Yes." Said Sarah Jane, glancing at their guest. "He traveled the universe just to pop in for a piece of cake; just because it smelt so desperately good."

"Will he ever get back?" Asked Clyde, finally coming out of hiding.

"I don't know. We'll have to find out when he's had his fill. And if he can't go back, we'll find something." Said Sarah Jane, gesturing to the Ofrodite. "I think he's waited long enough, don't you think? Is anyone going to eat that cake? If not I know something that will."

Maria lifted the lid of the box and nodded her head when the Ofrodite looked it her. "Go ahead. Go on." She said as the little alien made himself comfortable like he was seating himself at the dinner table.

The was a slight noise that sounded like the unsheathing of a small knife as the Ofrodite pulled out a claw and neatly cut himself a piece of cake.

Maria and Luke exchanged looks as the Ofrodite took a bite.

"Well, Ofrodite are very polite and neat as far as I can tell." Said Sarah Jane.

The others nodded in agreement except Chrissie. She was still holding the book.

Alan gestured for her to come over, but she declined.

Luke seated himself on the other side of the Ofrodite and watched closely as the alien decided to use his leg as a table. And the Ofrodite sat the nibbling like a squirrel, but miraculously, he left no crumbs.

Finally, when the Ofrodite had eaten his fill, he gently swept his clawed foot across Luke's leg, careful not snag the material, to clear the crumbs if he had dropped any.

He stood up on his hind legs and looked Luke in the eyes and chirped as he bobbed his head as if saying thank you. Then he took the box and balanced it on his head as he scuttled over to the window.

He looked at Maria and Luke as if asking for help and they went over to the small hole while the Ofrodite slipped through. They shoved the box through and the Ofrodite gave a trilling chirp as if saying thank you and gestured to the round piece of glass he has cut earlier.

Luke pressed the piece of glass in place while the Ofrodite worked his magic. He used his saliva the glue the glass back in place. Luke laughed as he felt the glass fuse back into place.

That being done, with the box sill balanced on his head, he turned and lifted his clawed foot the way a dog does when he wants to shake as if he was waving. The he was gone.

Chrissie dropped the book and began shouting at her husband and Sarah Jane to go after it. "Well, don't just stand there, Clara Jane, go get the nasty little beast. I bet he'll e bringing his little friends back with him. Alan, get it!"

Before Chrissie could get to them, Sarah Jane and Luke went back to their house across the street and Clyde went to his home.

Before Luke left Maria's house, Maria gave him a big hug. "Thanks for making that cake for me." She said, pulling away from him, her cheeks turning a bright crimson. Luke noticed this. "Your face is all red. You okay?" He asked, concerned.

Maria pressed her hand to her cheek and felt the warmth accumulating there.

"Yes, I'm fine. Anyway, really, thanks for your hard work on the cake. You and Sarah Jane must have worked hard on it. What did she mean when she said that the smell reached all over the universe?"

Luke shrugged. "It didn't make sense when she said in the kitchen earlier. Anyway, Do you like any kind of cooking at all like cookies or brownies? I love brownies. Especially the ones mum makes. Do mums always make good things to eat or is my mum a really good cook?"

He frowned when he saw that Maria was laughing at his long string of words in one breath. "Luke, you never stop asking questions, do you?" She said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Is that bad?"

Maria shook her head. "No, it's not. Sorry we all have to get used to you asking questions about everyday things that everybody knows about." She scratched her arms. Something she did when she was thinking.

"Well, I like anything besides cake. And, like you, I like brownies." She said.

Luke nodded. "I'll remember that. I'll make you some late birthday brownies now that mum showed me how to use all the kitchen equipment." Maria smiled as she watched her friend walked over to his house.

Sarah Jane felt good that she did not have to fight for peace on this particular day. The cake had only drawn a random creature to earth and his race already knew peace.

Sarah Jane couldn't wait to get up to her attic and write in her journal about the little adventure they had. Someday she would show that journal to the Doctor and he hopefully would be interested. But he never was interested in anything she did.

But deep down inside she knew he adored that Double 'D' Cake and she knew he could smell it all the way to wherever the TARDIS was.

That was some special cake.

The End.


End file.
